@joeflech and @doug_hanks
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine wants to ban any operator of a Miami-Dade casino resort from running a headquarters hotel for a renovated Miami Beach Convention Center.
On Monday, Levine told the Miami Herald he does not want the developer or hotel operator for the proposed convention center hotel to be involved with any gaming operations now or in the future in Miami-Dade County.
“The city of Miami Beach is anti-gaming,” he said. “Anyone can bid on this project, as long as they align philosophically with Miami Beach.”
At 4 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, the City Commission will discuss the language of a solicitation, or request for proposals, to attract developers to the hotel project, which would need a final approval from 60 percent of the Beach’s voters. Levine said he's proposing adding language to the solicitation making it mandatory for whichever firm wins the bid to not have any direct or indirect gaming interests in the county.
Levine also touted the anti-casino proposal in his Monday address to a luncheon of the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
Beach politicians have asserted their stance as anti-gaming in the past. We’ll see how the discussion goes Tuesday afternoon.
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